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For Auburn, A Worse March Madness

In this Feb. 4 file photo, Auburn guard Varez Ward dribbles past Mississippi State guard Brian Bryant days before life became much more complicated for members of the Auburn basketball program.

The Auburn Tigers lost in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament Thursday night – a 68-54 decision at the hands of Ole Miss, good enough to send them home for the year with a 15-16 record and 10th in the league. But they had plenty more to worry about than a stalling bid for an NIT berth. Just a few hours before, Yahoo Sports released a report claiming that point guard Varez Ward, already suspended since late February, is at the center of a federal investigation involving point shaving. At least two games are being investigated by the probe: a Jan. 25 loss to Arkansas and a Feb. 7 loss to Alabama.

Point shaving involves intentionally affecting a game’s score, usually by failing to score as much as possible to benefit gamblers who have bet on the game. Yahoo’s report says that an Auburn player tipped off an assistant coach about a possible infraction, after which the school contacted both the NCAA and the FBI. Following that, Ware and guard Chris Denson were suspended indefinitely for violation of team rules prior to the Feb. 25 game against Arksansas, with Denson rejoining the team one game later. Ward was not reinstated through the rest of the season, which ended with last night’s loss in the SEC tournament. In a statement to the media, the school wrote, “Auburn officials were made aware of a rumor regarding an allegation two weeks ago and immediately reported it to the FBI, the NCAA and the SEC. Because of the nature of the allegation, Auburn is not in a position to make any further comment on the situation.” (An e-mail to Ward was not returned.)